FreeMediaOnline.orgÂ Commentary by Ted Lipien, September 4, 2008, San Francisco –Â While the White HouseÂ mobilized in just a few days to put together aÂ $1 billion aid packageÂ for Georgia, and President Bush sent Vice President DickÂ Cheney on a trip to the region, the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which oversees all civilianÂ U.S. international broadcasts,Â Â is still in the mode of defending the shutting down of the Voice of America (VOA) radio to Russia and its plan to eliminate eventually allÂ VOA on-airÂ radio to Georgia and Ukraine.

Due to the BBG-ordered cuts, VOA Georgian serviceÂ has already beenÂ reduced to only 4 persons. And in an incredible foreign policy blunder, the BBG ended all VOA radio broadcasts to Russia just 12 days before the Russian troops attacked Georgia. If the war had not started, the BBG would have alsoÂ cut VOA Georgian radioÂ broadcasts.

Such a glaring example of bad judgment,Â subsequent inactivity inÂ face of a majorÂ crisis,Â and stubborn defiance has never been seen in more than 60 years ofÂ U.S. government-sponsoredÂ international broadcasting. By creating the bipartisan Broadcasting Board of Governors in 1998, the White House and the Congress have lost control of U.S. broadcasts to overseas audiences and are now unable to step in quickly to overrule the BBG on questionable program cuts.Â They also cannot do anything quicklyÂ aboutÂ the Board’sÂ lack of urgent response to a crisis situation.

Before the BBG took over, journalists at the Voice of America would have immediately expanded broadcasts to Russia and Georgia in response toÂ the news emergencyÂ and then ask the White HouseÂ for more money. The BBG took these types ofÂ decisions away from the VOAÂ director, who otherwise could have actedÂ quickly and in sync with the Administration and the Congress. In fact, this is what VOA journalists wanted to do this time, but theyÂ were told by the VOA management that the BBG considers such requests “a non-starter.”

The Russian broadcasts were taken off the air in late JulyÂ without any public announcement, most likely to avoid alerting members of Congress.Â Most Democrats and Republicans in CongressÂ see this move asÂ contributing to Mr. Putin’sÂ campaign to further restrict media freedom in Russia, but so far this year theyÂ have been unable to stop the BBG from proceeding withÂ radio programming cuts. (Congress managed to overrule the Bush Administration andÂ the BBGÂ onÂ similar cutsÂ in some previous years, but only with great difficulty and to a limited degree.)

If the White House and the Congress are willing to work overtime to give Georgia $1 billion inÂ U.S. aid money, it is inconceivable that they wouldÂ want the Broadcasting Board of Governors toÂ resist restarting VOA radio to RussiaÂ and resistÂ plans for a permanentÂ major expansion of VOA Georgian Service, rather than closing it down once the immediate crisis is over.

But politics and special interests may haveÂ played aÂ significant and dangerousÂ role inÂ the BBG’s decisions and have contributed to its current paralysis. Senator Biden’s staff was said to have worked with the BBG and its executive director to shut down VOA Russian radio service quickly and without any publicity,Â so thatÂ allÂ U.S. radio broadcasts to Russia would be done from now onÂ by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), which is incorporated in Delaware, Senator Biden’s home state.Â Â One of the BBG members, Edward Kaufman,Â is Senator Biden’s former chief of staff, and Â BBG executive director, Jeff Trimble,Â was formerly acting president of RFE/RL.

The problem is that RFE/RL has a large news bureau in Moscow, which makesÂ its journalists, who are Russian citizens living with their families in Russia, vulnerable to pressure and intimidation by Mr. Putin’s secret police.Â The BBG and RFE/RL management try toÂ minimize the existence ofÂ this risk, despite the International Federation of Journalists’ report showing that 292 journalists have been killed or have disappeared in Russia since 1990, with only a handful of perpetrators being convicted.

Jeff Trimble and BBG member Jeff Hirschberg, who is a director of U.S.-Russia Business Council, hadÂ conducted negotiationsÂ with Russian officials on how RFE/RL could continue its radio presence in Russia, includingÂ its large bureau in Moscow. I have argued that the BBG has boxed itselfÂ into a corner byÂ insisting on keepingÂ a large news bureau inÂ the authoritarian state, in whichÂ Mr. Putin’s secret policeÂ can freelyÂ intimidate, recruitÂ and silence journalists.

I strongly suspect that the BBG members and Senator Biden’s staff areÂ now afraid to make decisions which could undermine their previous commitments and RFE/RL’s operations in Russia.Â They are also afraid to admit that their decision to prevent VOA journalistsÂ from broadcasting to Russia from the safety of Washington, D.C. was not only foolish but also motivated by politics and special interests. The BBG hasÂ shown noÂ visible concern for keeping U.S. broadcasting resources safe from the clutches of Russia’s secret police.Â

Rather than wait for approval fromÂ the BBG, which is unlikely to come,Â Voice ofÂ AmericaÂ director Dan Austin should immediately resume and expand VOA Russian broadcasts. He should also make plans to keep VOA Georgian radio broadcasts on the air permanently. The BBG may try to fire him, as theyÂ didÂ with previous VOA directors who hadÂ disobeyed their orders, but at least he would not be outrageously out of sync with the White House and the Congress. He might even get some of the $1 billion of Georgian aid money for VOA broadcasts.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty president Jeff Gedmin should likewise expand Russian and Georgian broadcasts. (Both VOA and RFE/RL increasedÂ broadcasts to Georgia when the war started but not significantly.)Â Mr. GedminÂ should also ask for money to make sure RFE/RL journalists can work without being exposed to an unacceptable level of dependency on the good will of the secret police and toÂ protect them as much as possible from being pressured and intimidated.

What the BBG should be doing now, and what they should have been doing earlier, is to assist VOA, RFE/RL and their other entitiesÂ in raising money for U.S. international broadcasting. It was alsoÂ the BBG’sÂ job to anticipate such events as Russia’s attack on Georgia and to be prepared for them. They should have known that Mr. Putin’s secret police tactics in dealing with journalists would have a major impact on RFE/RL’s operations in Russia and put them at a seriousÂ risk. The Broadcasting Board of Governors has failed on all counts and is now hopelessly out of sync with the White House, the Congress, and the mood of the American people.

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